


Pattern Recognition

by ivyspinners



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Droid POV, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22016023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyspinners/pseuds/ivyspinners
Summary: Why is it that the things we love wither and die, while pain remains immortal?Five conversations with a droid, spanning three different wars.
Relationships: C-3PO & R2-D2, Leia Organa & R2-D2, Obi-Wan Kenobi & R2-D2
Comments: 16
Kudos: 99





	Pattern Recognition

**Author's Note:**

> The line making up the summary was inspired by Dan Olson/[Folding Ideas](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyNtlmLB73-7gtlBz00XOQQ) on Youtube, from his truly beautiful video [Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URo66iLNEZw). The original quote opens the story below. I also owe a great debt to skitzofreak's fantastic [Message Traffic](https://archiveofourown.org/series/813897), and its sheer creativity of writing droids.

_Why is it that everything we live for dies, while our pain gets to be immortal?_

\- Dan Olson

**III**

In the dusty, rock-strewn co-ordinate of space where /Planet/Alderaan had once been, Leia kneels and asks him to play his recordings of their last week on Alderaan. Artoo's pattern recognition circuits spark everywhere -- the tears on Leia's face, the destruction, star-scape that had once been labelled _home_. He stops before reaching the most recent images of Alderaan, every stuttering beam of reflected infrared light that spelled out _No life-signs Found_.

He accesses /Friend/BailOrgana/Audio, flipping through the moments just recently integrated into his core programming, where thousands of expressions have built, over the years--Leia's, most of all.

 _"I will always be with you,"_ Bail Organa had said, in his message.

 _He will always be with you_ , Artoo beeps.

Leia rest her head on his dome, and closes her eyes.

**I**

Unit R2D2 rolls into the Palace of Theed, eagerness sparking through its circuits. A whole new set of mapping data lies in its memory, ready to be accessed at a moment's glance. There were details its programming couldn't prepare for. It's had to rewrite program 39275-L completely. Only sixty variables to plot flight data. Oh, and hooked onto that program...

_> Find 39276-L7_

_**Found /Home/R2/Usr/39276-L7** _

_> Touch 39276-L7_

_**Tag: Polite Communications and You: a guide for astromechs** _

_> Move 39276-L7 to /Local/Trash/Permanent-Delete_

_**Moving...** _

_**Error: Permission denied** _

_> Override A N A K I N - 835_

_**Override accepted** _

_**Moving...** _

_**/Home/R2/Usr/39276-L7 has been deleted**._

Accessing /Home/R2/Usr/134 tells Unit R2D2 that the correct protocol is to thank Anakin for removing the restrictions on its programming. Anakin had been very thorough in that respect, without any prompting.

As Unit R2D2 rolls deeper into the palace, its beeps become louder. It lowers its noise filters; still minimal vibrational feedback.

At an outpost, protected from Naboo's afternoon sun, there is a human lying supine upon a pile of organic debris. Unit R2D2 detects that it has no life signs, before it identifies the human as Qui-Gon Jinn, Designation: Ally. R2D2's logic board sparks, and he scans more closely for life signs.

Qui-Gon is unresponsive.

But beside Qui-Gon, there is another human. R2D2 identifies him as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Designation: Friend. Life signs: Present.

R2D2 beeps inquisitively. It had not detected Obi-Wan after the battle, nor Qui-Gon. _Query /Friend/Obi-Wan "Emotion-status"?_

"I am showing an appropriate amount of attachment," Obi-Wan says. His words vibrate at an uneven frequency. "And an appropriate reaction to losing that attachment. Does that satisfy you?"

_R2D2 status: Unsatisfied_

"Can't even lie to a droid," Obi-Wan says. He shakes his head.

_Query /source "Lie"?_

Obi-Wan turns so R2D2 can see his face. There are tracks of water running from his eyes. Tears, Unit R2D2's Human Facial Expression Interpretation Program supplies. This word is so much so efficient that R2D2 immediately prioritizes Tears. The pattern recognition sparks again and again, as Obi-Wan's tears continue.

"I'll just be a moment," Obi-Wan says. "Lets just say that only _appropriate_ reactions are allowed. But the Jedi will celebrate Qui-Gon. He brought down a Sith." His voice grows more uneven, though his tears stop. "I just need a moment before celebrations."

Unit R2D2 consults its manual. For Obi-Wan, Designation: Friend, Qui-Gon had clearly been designated a friend.

_> Access /Home/R2/Usr/134_

_**Accessing...** _

_**Accessing...** _

The process is too slow. Unit R2D2 abandons the process, and beeps with the programming most easily accessed.

_ChangeDesignation /Ally/Qui-Gon to /Friend/Qui-Gon._

A smile flickers across Obi-Wan's face. "Thank you, Artoo."

But even hours later, when the funeral pyre is lit, white smoke and orange light cast all across ancient stone, when Artoo's sensors focus on Obi-Wan's face, the output of its identification algorithms is _grief_.

**II**

Artoo rolls across Senator Amidala's Nubian yacht, tiny electrical surges sparking through its logic board. There's no time to run a systems diagnostic, so Artoo works around them. He's had plenty of practice, during all sorts of _play: /Friend/Anakin/Audio "Sticky Situations"_ through the years of war, has worked around a thousand kilowatts of electrical surges, and rewritten programs until they could account for all sorts of new parameters.

He has, indeed, faced threats to Padmé before.

But he has not detected the waning of her life signs this degree, nor so quickly, nor with Obi-Wan watching her with such despair.

_> Play /Master/Padmé/PreviousSurvivalRecord_

_**PreviousSurvivalRecord Output... 100%** _

Artoo knows the parameters are significantly different now. It still makes the electrical surges die down a little, as they have in the past, enough so that he can run more complex programs again.

"I don't think Mistress Padmé's recovery is going well, Artoo," C-3PO says, nervously. His logic board input/output settings follow human emotions more closely than Artoo's does, and he is always easy to read; there's no variation from parameters, when it comes to his internal state and his external output.

_Play: /Friend/Obi-Wan/Audio "Thanks ever so, I never would have guessed."_

"Really, Artoo, is now the time for that sort of sarcasm?"

Artoo beeps. _Set Status: Time to "Appropriate"_

High-pitched screaming erupts from the cabin, much higher than an average human male's, or female's, and higher in amplitude than usual. Artoo integrates /Friend/Anakin and /Friend/Obi-Wan's newest expressions into his own vocabulary over the next 1.5 seconds, then rolls into the room to offer help with the two newborn human infants. C-3PO clunks behind him, offering much the same in much blunter terms. Artoo connects to the medidroid, which has far more accurate life sensors than he does.

 _Life signs: /HR 35, /BP 70/40, RED ALERT_.

C-3PO moans in distress, that useless idiot. R2 kills the spark urging him to spin in distressed circles, because that will not help. He runs a query for 'him', though his recent volatile memory already supplies the answer.

_Life signs: /HR 10, /BP NOT DETECTABLE, RED ALERT_

_Life signs: /HR NOT DETECTABLE, /BP NOT DETECTABLE_

With a flurry of sparks, Artoo disconnects from the medi droid, and activates his own sensors.

_Life signs: Not detected_

In the electrical surge rising through his circuit boards, Artoo can run only the most rudimentary of expression recognition programs. It's been integrated into his core programming, after all these years, so it works fast: Obi-Wan is bowed over with grief. Bail Organa hides his face in his hands.

"Oh no, oh no," C-3PO says.

There are so many sparks in the logic board, that it's permanently rewriting parts of Artoo's non-volatile memory; the recordings of this day, the recordings of Padmé's last moments, will never be deleted beyond retrieval. Perhaps this is what it's life for humans, with their non rewritable memory, always easily accessed, always there.

"We've bought some time," Obi-Wan tells Bail Organa, hours later, /Friend/MaleChildUnnamed swaddled in his arms. "She -- I -- managed that."

Artoo compares Padmé's loss to this gain, and finds that the weight of Padmé's loss is far greater. He communicates with what has become core programming, bleeps out: _We can help._

As Bail leads C-3PO away, Artoo changes one more designation in his records.

_ChangeDesignation /Friend/Anakin to /Foe/Vader_

_Move /Friend/Anakin to /Local/Trash/Permanent-Delete_

**IV**

"Back again, old friend?" Leia asks.

 _I'm too old for journeys across half the galaxy,_ Artoo tells her, whirring around. Rey's clever repairs have made his wheels roll more smoothly than they had in decades, but parts of him are old, and replacing them would warp them beyond repair. They are irreplaceable.

Leia, too, is old. She still walks tall and straight, but her movements are slow, and her words measured.

"I needed someone to keep Poe and Finn out of trouble," Leia says. "I know you won't do it, but you'll help them get out of trouble faster than anyone else."

 _I can't believe you left those fuckers in charge of so many things,_ Artoo says.

"That's exactly why I left _those fuckers_ in charge," Leia says. She still pronounces it much better than Artoo does, despite all the audio recordings, not least _hers_ , Artoo has tried to integrate, then to emulate.

He doesn't report the information yet, the confirmation of a new threat, an old foe. If Poe can be in charge, then he can deliver the news.

Later, Artoo navigates through too many tree trunks to find Leia, sitting in a cranny in her cave. She's tucked her cane under her chin, and leans heavily on it, eyes contemplative, fingers loose. Even in the dim lighting, Artoo's facial sensors pick up the crease at the corners of her lips, the exhaustion on her face.

Artoo's pattern recognition pings. He almost turns it off. That expression pings it all the time, these days, but many things do; the flow of rebels in hiding, the wounds from blaster canons, the grime streaked across faces humanoid and not. He's seen it so often, his non-volatile memory has almost filled. He'll have to start deleting things, if he isn't careful.

"I'm glad you're back," Leia says, "but I really wish it was with better news."

Artoo beeps, low. There are no specific words behind it, but Leia has always found it soothing.

She pulls one hand from under her chin, and pinches the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. His pattern recognition pings again, bringing up the image of Master Luke doing the same, and a younger Leia with a matching expression. Artoo isn't sure who copied the movement from whom. He isn't even sure if Anakin or Master Padmé made the same expressions; it's hidden too deep within his memory drives to easily access. His logic board sparks, so automatic at this point, it might as well be a new circuit, created by his new memories, rather than programming.

They are, one and all, gone. Except for her. And, apparently, Palpatine.

"Him," Leia says.

 _That fucker_ , Artoo beeps in offering.

Leia laughs, but it's soft. "Why is it that everyone I love dies, but that fucker seems immortal?"

It's a joke. Artoo queries his database for the most appropriate possible response. There's a scrap of audio Artoo never integrated that seems it might work.

_> Play /Master/Padmé/Audio: "I'm not claiming the system is perfect. Obviously there’s room for improvement."_

Artoo has long since deleted the context, at Bail Organa's insistence. But perhaps he should add a new tag of 'humour', for those lines. They're not useful anywhere else.

Leia's laugh is louder, the second time around.

"Yes, Palpatine dead would be a _vast_ improvement. Lets get it done."

 _Yes, Master Leia,_ Artoo beeps.

Leia, however, does not live to see it done.

**V**

At the end of everything -- though Artoo has heard this before, has changed Status: Rebellion to "Success" before -- he leaves behind C-3PO to walk the sands to Tatooine. C-3PO has even more right to be here than Artoo does, in this place of his birth, but Artoo hasn't had much success restoring _all_ his memories. Some of what came before all the mind wipes will be forever lost.

He rolls across the sticky sand, as winds whip dirt into all his nooks and crannies. The feeling is familiar, though it doesn't ping his pattern recognition.

Sand is sand. it doesn't make patterns in the wind. But for all the buildings that are now gone, Tatooine's sands and sun remain the same.

When Rey returns to the ship, Artoo follows. He leaves the navigation to BB-8, and rolls towards a different task. It's a slow job, carefully dissecting out muddled, semi-corrupted memory banks from prior to the clone wars. Artoo told Rey, when she asked, that all the experience might make C-3PO respond less... bluntly.

"Oh, is it that time again?" C-3PO asks, sitting down obligingly to more easily access his memory circuits.

Artoo beeps. _Set Status: Time to "Fucking Appropriate"_

"Well, I suppose we're here," C-3PO relents. "And there's nothing else to do."

Artoo's programming accesses his memory banks automatically, and splits into a flow of many voices, all familiar. Decades prior, with less experience, he might have thought it a programming error. Now he knows better; it's just an act written permanently in him, within memories that never fade.

 _Yes,_ Artoo beeps. _We're still here. And we'll see something new._

The Falcon takes off with a jolt, aiming for the clear skies, and the empty space between stars.

fin

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is never expected, but always appreciated :D


End file.
